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September 04, 2012

payvia Enables Donation by Text Message to be Charged to Carrier Bill

By Anuradha Shukla TMCnet Contributor

Online and mobile payments provider payvia is powering political contributions via carrier billing for Obama for America (OFA). Supporters will be able to donate via text message and the money will be charged to their carrier bill. The company has been chosen as the exclusive vendor for this purpose and will leverage its technology to enable supporters to donate using just their mobile phone.

“By allowing citizens to make contributions via their mobile phone, payvia is empowering millions of Americans to make their voices heard in the electoral process,” said payvia executive vice president, Alan Sege.

Political committees have not been able to accept contributions directly via carrier billing prior to this initiative that got the green light when the payvia group first presented this groundbreaking service to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) this spring.

In order to get accepted, payvia worked through a series of FEC advisory opinions, and noted that each approved by unprecedented unanimous Commission votes.

“These proposals have engendered widespread, bipartisan support from political campaigns and reform groups alike because they offer a new and dynamic vehicle for political engagement,” said FEC member Cynthia Bauerly.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, payvia partners with merchants and major mobile operators enabling consumers to pay for digital goods and services using just their mobile number. The company is allowing American citizens to engage further in the electoral process through small-dollar contributions via carrier billing by extending its payment services to the political committees.

Payvia was in news last month when it joined the Mobile Payments Committee of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the trade association of the global electronic payments industry.

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